Listening Clark :: Class Of 2023 :: Module Two
Hey…
Firstly, Happy Valentine’s Day (Or Not) to anyone who cares (or not); I managed to put together another bittersweet mix of romantic-and-not-so-much tunes as part of my yearly mixing rituals over on my Mixcloud account, so please hit play on the window below to have a listen to that if you like.
(Anyone else remember Cruel Intentions? Yeah, like a lot of 1999 content marketed towards teenagers, it doesn’t hold up very well at all…)
As for the rest of my Present Day Hellscape Tune Out Soundtrack, please find below ten more examples yielded from the crop of Best New Music For 2023 So Far In My Humble Opinion Anyway…
Listening Clark :: Class Of 2023 :: Module Two
After The Magic – 파란노을 [Parannoul]
The identity-shy shoegaze artist from Seoul beguiles again with another set of bittersweet ruminations after courting significant attention for their second album, 2021’s To See The Next Part Of The Dream. Bestowed with more resources instrumentally, album three treads as beautiful a wistful line as the previous collection, with each crashing reverberation drenched in the kind of blinkered, life-affirming hope sorely needed right now.
All The Eye Can See – Joe Henry
Alternative country singer, songwriter, producer and unlikely Madonna collaborator Joe Henry furthers his prolific lineage with his sixteenth long-form release. An poignant collection of Americana that feels as intimate as it does epic, Henry’s latest offering is rich with an emotional portent that affords the listener as much salient light as it does arresting darkness, never striking a false or hollow note in any one of the troubled tales he spins.
Anarchist Gospel – Sunny War
More galvanizingly good contemporary American folk this way plays, courtesy of one Sunny War, a force of nature who combines blues and soul with a free-spirited punk edge that transcends each of those genres. Though her songs are characterised with idyllic instrumentation and her tremulously supple voice, don’t let those facets fool you, as War’s progressive lyrics and themes are as bracingly fearless and modern as any present-day punk record you will listen to.
Choral Feeling – Oceanic
After spending the best part of a decade carving a respectable niche with well-received extended plays and DJ sets, electronic music producer Job Oberman takes vocal editing to chirpily delirious points throughout his debut album proper, creating soundscapes from vocal samples taken from close friends that politely percolate with an impishly warm and inclusive energy that is rarely heard in most downtempo techno (down-techno?) offerings.
Colours Of Air – Loscil & Lawrence English
Fans of ambient music no doubt drew in a pleasing gasp of anticipation at the news that two of its more esteemed present-day progenitors were to join forces for their next project, and Messrs Loscil and English certainly do not disappoint on Colours, an at-times beautiful set inspired by the various hues that the celestial body above our heads can afford us, especially the closer Magenta which is just as doomily Lovecraftian as the title suggests.
Dust Gatherers – Seaming To
With collaborative credentials that vacillate between the likes of Robert Wyatt, Graham Massey and beyond, it’s no surprise that Seaming To’s solo output is one bursting with enough myriad influences to be easily classified as that most contrary of pop labels; “Genreless”. Indebted as much to theatricality and opera as it is electronica and psychedelia, it would all be hard to swallow if it were not held in place with such mercurial command by its progenitor’s mellifluous vocal performance.
Fatima – Ruhail Qaisar
A self-taught musician and sound collagist hailing from Ladakh, Ruhail Qaisar’s debut album is one fraught with the kind of tension and moral ambiguity that could only come from living within a territorially fractious state that is the centre of a crossfire between India, China and Pakistan. There isn’t so much beauty in Qaisar’s breakdown of tradition and society here as there is awe-inspiring devastation, the album being an excoriating listen that impresses as much as it depresses.
Heavy Heavy – Young Fathers
The Welcome Back Award for this entry is a triple-jointed affair, the first half going to the genre-busting, Mercury Prize-winning, Robert Del Naja-endorsed indie-pop trio from Edinburgh, whose fourth album arrives perfectly timed to lift fans out of the existential dread of the past couple of years. Though there is still plenty of admonishing bite to be found in their protest songs, there is a tangible sense of hope this time around that could not feel more urgent and stirring.
One Day – Fucked Up
Part two of the Welcome Back Award goes to another rousingly ebullient return from a band who have taken longer than previously to get back on track because plague and shit. Just as good-naturedly foul-mouthed as you remember them, Fucked Up’s sixth album sees the hardcore punk outfit return to their rabble-rousing shoutiest after the more genre-expansive deluge of their previous long-player, with the only thing bigger than Damian Abraham’s voice being those mighty anthemic hooks.
Raven – Kelela
And closing both the troika of Welcomes and the list in general is the long-awaited sophomore album from Kelela, continuing to push the levels of swoon to stratospheric heights with her effortlessly cool brand of lushly futuristic R&B electronica. Though written from a state of solitary neurosis, Kelela’s work here shines a light on the restorative power of dance music, the breakbeats and bass synths providing a bountiful playground for her vocals to undulate with masterful precision.
And that’s your lot for this fifty; please feel free to call me out on anything amiss, double-down on one or more of these choices, or just to say thanks or whatever.
All I ask is be safe until next time, despite the world out there and everything.
xxxo
